New York State Right to Life is saddened that New York now has what Gov. Andrew Cuomo ironically but rightly referred to as “the most aggressive” abortion law in the country.
“The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) was sold to the public saying it merely ‘updates’ the law by codifying Roe v. Wade into our statute, which is not true,” said Christina Fadden, chair of New York State Right to Life. “RHA has made abortion a ‘fundamental right’ and prohibits all limits on abortion, which not even Roe v. Wade did.”
In a horrific irony, at Cuomo’s order, The One World Trade Center was lit up pink Tuesday night to celebrate the bill’s passage. Pink is traditionally the color used to celebrate the birth of baby girls, more than 30 million of whom have been annihilated since Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973.
“The Reproductive Health Act is a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values,” Cuomo said after the bill’s passage. “In the face of a federal government intent on rolling back Roe v. Wade and women’s reproductive rights, I promised that we would enact this critical legislation within the first 30 days of the new session – and we got it done.”
In case there was any lingering doubts about his presidential ambitions, Cuomo has also promised to push for a constitutional amendment.
SIGN THE PETITION: Excommunicate Andrew Cuomo for Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth
The Reproductive Health Act is breathtaking in the scope and reach of its provisions. As Fadden observed, “ RHA has expanded abortion-on-demand in New York past 24 weeks – well past when unborn children feel pain, are viable, and suffer during the course of an abortion – and up to birth. This is inhumane.”
Passage was made possible last November when pro-abortion Democrats won control of the state Senate which had held the RHA at bay so long as Republicans were in the majority.
In addition to unleashing abortion on demand up until birth, the Reproductive Health Act also gives pro-abortionists many of its cherished goals. For example, non-physicians will be able to perform abortions.
Besides stripping abortion from the penal code, the RHA added this language:
“The legislature finds that comprehensive reproductive health care is a fundamental component of every individual’s health, privacy and equality.
“Therefore, it is the policy of the state that:
“Every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraception or sterilization. Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion, pursuant to this article.”
During debate in the Senate, Sen. Daphne Jordan talked about how the bill contributes to a “throwaway” culture.
“A baby inside its mother is not an inanimate object, it’s a life,” Jordan said. “Think about what you’re allowing to be tossed away with a yes vote.”
The RHA “decriminalizes all forms of abortion in New York, even in domestic violence cases where an attack on a woman leads to the loss of her fetus,” Karen DeWitt of WRVO reported.
Sen. Cathy Young, a Republican from Olean, said because of that, the bill takes away some rights from pregnant women. She offered an amendment that would make it a class D felony for “knowingly assaulting a pregnant woman,” whether or not the fetus is lost.
“Why aren’t we protecting pregnant women from having their babies taken away from them, especially in such a violent manner?” Young asked.
The amendment was voted down along party lines.
Republicans “stressed that concern Tuesday, holding a news conference at the Capitol with Livia Abreu, an Army veteran from the Bronx who lost her baby in a domestic-violence attack last year,” according to Joseph Spector and Jon Campbell of the Democrat & Chronicle.
“It is unconscionable to think that anyone would deprive a pregnant domestic violence victim the justice she deserves,” said Sen. Young.
